TLC the Musical

A Tale As Old As Time

It was nearly the end of the school day, and Wolf felt the uneasiness rolling off Scarlet in waves.

The two of them shared a geography class, and were currently studying Europe. Which, usually, Scarlet couldn't be more smitten about. That wasn't the case today. Scarlet kept looking around, a nervous wreck, and her leg bounced off the floor almost as fast as Wolf's normally would.

She wasn't paying attention to the lesson, and her mind was somewhere else. But the worst part about it is that she not only looked like her mind was in another place. It was that she seemed paranoid.

Her fingers twirled her pencil around and tapped it on her desk, her foot tapped the ground, like the beat of her ever constant anxiety. Something was making her crawl out of her skin. And in watching as Scarlet slowly unraveled, Wolf became nervous too.

He wanted to ask what was bothering her, since she was usually so composed and easy going. Except for the times that she was screaming in his face. Still, Wolf wondered what on earth could be bothering her. Thought it was doubtful she would tell him anything, or resist the urge to scream at him for even asking her.

Sighing, Wolf tried to return to his classwork. Which was labeling the countries of Europe. He knew where everything was, he always did. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus on anything but the rapid tapping sound of Scarlet's pencil.

Another weird thing that he noticed was that Scarlet sat away from her friends, who were in all of her classes with her. She always sat with them, no matter what they were squabbling about. Now, she was sitting in the corner of the room, isolated from everyone else.

Whatever was going on, it must have been either too frightening to talk about for someone even as strong willed as Scarlet. Even still, Wolf made a note in his head to inquire about what was going on with her. Because if she didn't tell someone what was bothering her, the secret she was hiding could eat her alive.

That was something Wolf knew for sure, and would always know until the day he died.

...................

It was like trying to watch paint dry, but almost nothing like it at all.

Every cell in Scarlet's body had been awake and on high alert since her Grandmere told her everything that was going on. The police were going to investigate her grandmother, she would be forced to stay with her dad, and she was going to go through a living hell for an entire two weeks. And that was only if the police didn't find anything else on her Grandmere.

I'm never going to get out of that house alive, the voice in Scarlet's head kept on repeating. Though it wasn't like it was lying. Her father had been the yearly winner of the "Worst Parent In The World" award since before Scarlet could remember. He'd practically let her starve in their house and whenever he came home from a late night of drinking, he'd take his frustrations out on her.

It became apparent at a very early age that her father blamed her for her mother leaving him. That woman had left the house one night without the slightest clue to where she was going. Scarlet hadn't even gotten the chance to know her, and before she could her mother left her to fend for herself against the wrath of her father.

Scarlet never talked about her dad. Especially not to any of her friends. One, because they'd make a huge fuss over it and try to "comfort" her. Two, because she never thought she'd ever have to deal with him again. The last time she saw him was just before second grade, when she was eight. Now, her entire body was on the fritz trying to accept that she would have to go back to her dad's house, and probably fight for her life.